Only if you damage the outer surface of the ocular and objective lenses or lens coatings, if the scope leaks, letting in condensation, or the scope receives abuse in some way to cause misalignment of lens elements. Otherwise, no.

Edited by RifleDude - June/02/2008 at 22:57

Ted

Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle.

Rifledude nailed it....proper care of the scope is paramount--no shirt sleeves used to push dirt out ,, stay clear of windex on the lenses ... etc.. use a lens pen / brush to gently remove debris, then a cleaner from the likes of nikon , Zeiss, etc made for lens coatings and a clean lens cloth ..

Yea .... NEVER USE any cleaner with ammonia !!!! Best thing I've found are Flents wipe'n'clear pads . Safe for all lenses and coatings .... including cameras .... and are anti-fog also . You can carry a few in your pocket . I use them for my binos , glasses, scopes, GPS screen and goggles .... even on my lil windshield when it's on in the winter on my ATV to keep it from fogging up and snow from sticking to it .

I'm not so sure that the various coatings used on the internal lens elements in many scopes won't degrade to some degree over a long period of time.

I can imagine that even the elemental lead in the glass would eventually oxidize, at least that near or at the surface of each lens.

Since Ted (Rifledude) seems to disagree, I am probably wrong, though!

On the subject of cleaning lenses, U.S. Optics says to use ACETONE ! That seems like an awfully harsh chemical to be using on coated lenses, but I have to take their word for it as being harmless. I have no doubts that it will get them clean...

Acetone is a very strong solvent for carbon-based contaminants (i.e. organic materials) like plastic. However, lens coatings are typically inorganic salts and oxides like magnesium fluoride, titanium dioxide, etc. Glass itself is really just silicon oxide, so it is impervious to acetone as well.

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